WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/720 
22 April 2008 
 (08-1909) 
 Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
FINAL ADDIS ABABA DECLARATION ON WTO NEGOTIATIONS 
 
AU Conference of Ministers of Trade and Finance 
Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 3 April 2008 
 
Communication from Côte d'Ivoire 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 18 Apr il 2008, has been received from the Permanent 
Delegation of Côte d'Ivoire. 
 
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FINAL ADDIS ABABA DECLARATION ON WTO NEGOTIATIONS 
 
 
Preamble  
 
We, Ministers of Trade and Finance of the Member States of the African Union, meeting in 
Addis Ababa, on 3 April 2008, examined the develo pments in the Doha De velopment Agenda (DDA) 
negotiations since the last Ministerial mee ting in Addis Ababa in January 2007;   
 
Emphasising  the imperative need for the Round to yield results that achieve the development 
objectives contained in the Doha Ministerial Declar ation and later reaffirmed by the WTO General 
Council Decision of 1 August 2004 (the July Framew ork) and subsequently the 6th WTO Ministerial 
Conference held from 13 to 18 December 2005 in Hong Kong;  
Reaffirming  our previous positions and concerns as contai ned in the Addis Ababa Declaration (15-16 
January 2007); the Nairobi Ministerial Declarati on (12 - 14 April 2006); the Arusha Development 
Benchmarks (21 - 24 November 2005); the Cairo Road  Map on the Doha Work  Programme (5- 9 June 
2005) and the Kigali Consensus (27-28 May 2004);  
Re-emphasing  the need for the negotiations to be carried  out in a fully inclusive and transparent 
manner to ensure political ownership of both th e process and outcome, and to be guided by 
Chairpersons based on members` contributions to en sure the legitimacy and balance of the outcome; 
Underlining  that any cross-cutting negotiations should focus primarily on Agriculture and NAMA, be 
driven by substance and not subject to artificia l deadlines, be duly sanctioned by members at all 
stages, and include issues of vital interest to Afri ca if consensus were reached to expand their scope; 
Recognizing  that the satisfactory completion of the Doha  Work Programme is vital for enhancing the 
trade and development prospects of African count ries and a priority for the achievement of the 
Millennium Development Goals, in partic ular poverty reduction in our countries; WT/L/720 
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  Stressing  that it is important to the Members as well as the global economy that the current Round of 
negotiations give rise to a fair and balanced ag reement, including full modalities that will truly 
integrate the development dimension, pursuant to  the mandate given by the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration, the July Framework and the Hong Kong  Ministerial Declaration which remain the only 
basis on which these negotiations should be conducted; 
Supporting  the declaration adopted by the LDC Trade Ministers in Maseru, 28th of February 2008 
(WT/L/719); 
Re-emphasising  that for Africa, development outcomes in each of the negotiating areas remain the 
raison d’être of the Round. This means that tangibl e development results must be evident within each 
negotiating area and in the overall outcome and in the completion of the overall Round.   
Hereby declare as follows: 
AGRICULTURE 
 
 Market Access :  
 
1. We stress that the Tariff reduction form ula for developed countries should achieve 
substantial improvement in Market Access, therefor e a high level of ambition in the tiered formula 
and a minimum average reduction of 54 percent are an essential element to achieve this objective. We 
also support that the maximum average reduction for developing countries should be 36 percent.  
2. We also urge that the implementation period for developing countries should be 10 years. 
3. We reiterate that the modalities for Sensitiv e Products should not impede the level of 
ambition to be realized through the Tariff reduc tion formula, and it should allow for achieving 
substantial improvement in Market Access for tho se products, in addition we stress that Developing 
Members with no TRQ commitments have th e right to designate sensitive products. 
4. We stress that, with regard to Special Pr oducts, the most appropriate architecture in 
designating Special Products is to agree on a maximu m number of tariff lines to be designated as 
special products. In addition it should provide for a cer tain percentage of tari ff lines to be exempted 
from tariff cuts. This would include a designation of a minimum number of special products without 
using indicators. We stress that the treatment of Sp ecial Products should be more  flexible compared to 
the treatment of Sensitive products.  
5. We welcome the proposals made in the revised  draft modalities text regarding SVEs. We 
stress that SVEs including those among them w ith ceiling bindings and homogenously low bindings 
may choose not to apply the tiered formula but simply  meet the overall average cut of 24 percent. In 
that case, they may not be required to undertake any minimum cut per tariff line and may designate as 
many tariff lines as they choose as Special Products pr ovided that they meet the overall average of 24 
percent. The tariff lines they designate as Special Pr oducts need not to be guided by indicators.  
6. We reaffirm that the modalities for Special  Safeguard Mechanism should be simple, 
effective and operational; in addition they should not create any burden to developing countries and 
address specific difficulties in Africa. We emphasize th at in order to ensure that the SSM is effective 
in addressing import surges and price decline in  Africa, the remedies should apply beyond the 
Uruguay Round bound level.  
7. We reiterate our call for the issue of longsta nding preferences to be addressed through both 
trade-based and non-trade solutions. We also insi st that the mandates on tropical products and  WT/L/720 
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  preferences that were adopted by consensus do not establish any hierarchy between them since 
development is the ultimate objective of the Doha Round. 
8. We stress the need to establish an appropriate  mechanism to address, through Modalities in 
relevant negotiation bodies, the declining and volatile  commodity prices and the deterioration of the 
terms of trade aimed at increasing the participation of African countries in the value chain of 
production should include arrangements between pr oducing and consuming countries / and between 
commodity-dependent producing countries. We theref ore urge for the inclusion of paragraphs 87 to 
97 of TN/AG/W/4 Rev.1 as an integral part of the Agreement on Agriculture. 
 Domestic Support:  
 9. We strongly stress that effective and substa ntial reductions in trade distorting domestic 
support is an essential outcome of the Agriculture nego tiations, to achieve this, it is necessary to apply 
the higher cuts for the Overall Trade Distortin g Domestic Support and to agree on effective 
disciplines that would prevent concentration of su pport on some products including Blue Box product 
specific limits. 
10. We stress that appropr iate disciplines should be developed on the Green box to ensure that it 
is effectively non or at most minimally trade di storting as well as to accommodate the programs of 
interests for developing countries.  
 Export Competition:  
 
11. We underscore that the modalities for Food Aid sh ould not impede the delivery of food aid 
in Emergency situations and should take into acc ount the interests of food aid recipients while 
ensuring the elimination of commercial displacement. 
12. Taking note of the recent dramatic increase in world prices of some Agriculture products, 
and the effect of this increase on the imports of NFIDCs and LDCs, we emphasize the importance of accommodating the specific interests of those countries in  the modalities for Export Credits.           
13. With regard to state trading enterprises (STEs),  we appreciate that the LDCs and SVEs, due 
their special developmental circumstances, would be  able to maintain or use monopoly powers for 
agricultural exports.  
COTTON  
14. We urge Members of the World Trade Orga nization (WTO) to faithfully implement the 
mandate set in the July 2004 Framework Agreemen t and reaffirmed by the 6th WTO Ministerial 
Conference, held in Hong Kong in December 2005, by including, in the modalities under negotiation, 
ambitious, expeditious and specific outcomes that will make it possible to substantially reduce 
domestic support for cotton pending its  total elimination, to phase out all forms of export subsidies, 
and to secure duty- and quota-free access for cotton and cotton by-products exported by least developed countries to developed country markets and developing country markets that are in a 
position to grant such treatment. 
15. We emphasize also the need for WTO Member s to grant African cotton-producing countries 
the necessary technical and financial assistance to strengthen Africa's cotton sector and for a Safety Net to be established to manage cotton export income losses resulting from fluctuations in 
international cotton prices until such time as subsidies have been fully eliminated. WT/L/720 
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  16. We recall that without an appropriate and lasti ng solution, for the vital issue of cotton there 
can be no conclusion to the Doha Round as was underscored in the final conclusions of the High Level meeting on cotton held in Geneva in March 2007. 
NON AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS (NAMA) 
17. We emphasise that the outcome of Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations 
should not lead to the de-industrializa tion of fragile African Economies.  
18. The coefficient for developing Members should fu lly reflect the principle of less than full 
reciprocity in reduction commitments, adequate  flexibilities should be granted to developing 
Members as an integral part of the S&D treatment  and should be treated as a stand alone modality. 
Moreover, any agreed modalities in NAMA, particul arly for developing countries applying the Swiss 
formula, should take full account of para 24 of the HK Ministerial declaration. 
19. We urge that proposals by African members e ither as individuals or as a group that are 
premised on genuine developmental concerns and s ituations be accorded positive response, including 
para 6 members. We urge members to support Para 6 member’s proposal that is aimed at addressing the heterogeneous nature of the gr oup through a banded a pproach and therefore strives to preserve the 
much needed policy space for their industrialization. 
20. We wish to reiterate our concern on the impact of preference erosion on our small 
economies and particularly so because majority of our membership depend on trade preferences. We 
call for a trade based solution (i.e. a longer implementation period of at least 10 years coupled with a back loading of tariff reductions) and non trade solu tion to address the issue of preference erosion 
taking into account the difficult economic reforms currently underway in African countries. In 
addition, concerned that some sectoral initiatives w ill have adverse effects on our exports, we call for 
such initiatives to exclude products of export interest s to African countries, particularly those tariff 
lines identified as being vulnerable to preferences.  
21. On Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs), we continue to support the proposals that gather the widest 
consensus among members in particular the establi shment of a horizontal mechanism for resolving 
NTBs.  
SERVICES 
22. We reaffirm the mandates on service as stated in the Doha Declaration, as well as in the 
Hong Kong Declaration, including Annex C. We re iterate our rights emanating from the flexibilities 
provided for developing countries and LDCs in th e services negotiations, as contained in the GATS 
and all related instruments.   
23. We equally stress that any negotiations ca rried out in a plurilateral track should not 
undermine the provisions and integrity of Annex C or result in new and additional commitments for 
African countries. 
24. We note that African countries have undertak en extensive commitments in liberalizing 
many of their services sectors. In this regard , any outcome on services, which will result in new 
commitments, should take into account the effort s already made by them, and should take into 
consideration their level of development and their limited human, institutional and regulatory 
capacities. The outcome on services should contain a strong development component that would 
enable African countries to effectivel y benefit from services liberalisation.  WT/L/720 
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  25. To enable African countries to further integrat e in the global trade in services, we strongly 
call upon our trading partners, particularly de veloped countries, to undertake commercially 
meaningful market access commitments in sectors a nd Modes of supply that are of export interest to 
African countries, in particular Mode 4. The A frican countries should equally benefit from Special 
and Differential Treatment and appropriate technical assistance and capacity building. At this end, we 
urge that LDC Modalities as well as S&D proposals s hould be operationalised as soon as possible or 
at the latest before the end of the negotiations. 
26. The disciplines to be adopted on domestic regul ation should be development oriented and 
effectively address regulatory and related barriers fa ced by services suppliers from African Countries. 
Moreover, they should stimulate appropriate regulat ory reforms and institutional building efforts in 
the service sector. Additionally, the disciplines should include effective provisions on technical 
assistance and flexibilities for African countries. 
TRADE FACILITATION 
27. We reiterate the importance attached to the issue of Trade Facilitation, and remain positively 
engaged to reach a satisfactory outcome to all memb ers.  We reaffirm the importance of providing 
developing countries with the appropriate Special  & Differential treatment (S&D), and Technical 
Assistance and Capacity Building (TACB), as outlin ed in Annex D of the July 2004 Framework and 
Annex E of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  
28. Any agreement on Trade Facilitation should incl ude an appropriate S&D, TACB provisions 
that address implementation concer ns of Developing Countries Members. It should directly link their 
implementation of any commitment to providi ng TACB to Developing Country Members, and 
contain a clearly defined operationally mechanism in  this regard, that would also commit the donor 
community to provide TACB to those Members who need them. The special situation and needs of 
African Landlocked countries with respect to tran sit of goods should also be taken into account. 
29. We urge the Donor Community to provide Tec hnical Assistance and Financial Support to 
conduct the National Self Assessment Needs and Priorities programs, in addition to a follow-up 
exercise to determine the cost implication of  Trade Facilitation measures. Adequate financial 
assistance/support should also be provided to address the development of physical infrastructure in African countries, which is very crucial in Trade Facilitation.   
30. Developing and Least-developed Members s hould not be required to implement any 
commitment unless their requests for TACB has b een adequately responded to by developed 
Members, and they have acquired the necessar y capacity to implement such commitments. 
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
31. We call for the incorporation into the final outcome of the Doha Round, the LDCs proposals 
as outlined in Maseru Declaration (WT/L/719).  
32. We further urge developed countries to specify on a product by product basis when they will 
provide duty free quota free market access for remaining 3 per cent of the products originating from 
the LDCs as specified in the LDCs  Maseru Declaration (WT/L/719). 
33. We fully support special consideration for developing countries that are in Customs Unions 
with LDCs in their reduction commitments. 
34. We call for timely, full and effective impl ementation of the modalities for the special 
treatment for LDCs for negotiation on trade in services. WT/L/720 
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  35. We attach importance to the Enhanced Integr ated Framework for LDCs and we stress the 
urgent need to operationalise the initiative as outlined in the LDCs Maseru Declaration. 
SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
36. We reiterate that Special and Differential Treat ment (SDT) is a fundamental principle aimed 
at enabling developing country Members and LDCs to implement their commitments and obligations, 
including providing them with flexibility, policy sp ace, and balanced rules to enable them achieve 
greater market access.   
37. We are concerned that discussions on the Agre ement Specific proposals have made minimal 
progress. We therefore urge members to intensify e fforts and exercise the political will to accelerate 
the review of the SDT provisions to ensure that  the outcome of these negotiations respond to the 
development needs and concerns of African countri es. We emphasize that th e Monitoring Mechanism 
is aimed at ensuring adequate and proper implem entation of SDT provisions in all areas of the 
negotiations. Therefore, it should include the appr opriate elements to achieve this objective. 
RULES 
38. Underscore the need for a balanced and fair  outcome that addresses the concerns of the 
African countries. In this regard, any eventual outcome in this area should provide adequate 
development flexibilities for developing countries a nd LDCs. We further urge that considering the 
special difficulties that African countries face, adeq uate technical assistance be provided to enable 
them to effectively enforce their rights unde r the Anti-dumping Agreement in line with recent 
African/ACP proposal document on Anti-dumping.   
39. We are concerned with some proposals that c onstitute a departure from the basic concepts 
and principles embodied in the current Anti-dum ping and SCM Agreements. The introduction of 
significant procedural requirements should not impo se additional burden on competent authorities in 
Africa. 
40. We further call on the WTO Members to ensure that any negotiated outcome on the 
fisheries subsidies is fair and balanced with necessary effective and operational S&D treatment for 
developing countries, in particular for the African co astal states which have a low percentage of world 
catch, which would help them to achieve their development objectives. 
41. We support the continuation of technical discussions on the draft consolidated text of 
November 2007. We emphasize that, at this stage, it would be premature to issue any revised text on 
Rules. 
42. We stress that the rules negotiations and outcome must fully incorporate the development 
aspects of Regional Trade Agreements. 
43. Recalling the fact that most African countries are currently negotiating Economic 
partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European  Union and recalling that the outcomes are to be 
consistent with WTO rules, we urge WTO memb ers to support African proposals which emphasize 
the development dimension in the negotiations on the review and clarification of article XXIV of the 
GATT 1994. 
TRIPS  
44. We urge that the outcome of the work on TRIPS and the Convention on Biological 
Diversity (CBD) should lead to mandatory requirement for patent applicants to disclose the origin of  WT/L/720 
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  biological material and traditional knowledge used in  their inventions and evidence of prior informed 
consent and benefit sharing arrangements with th e country of origin and relevant communities. 
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 
45. Considering the difficulty that African countri es face in using the dispute settlement system, 
we urge that the outcome of the negotiations shoul d lead to an outcome that will fully facilitate the 
full participation of African countries in the disput e settlement system in line with the African Group 
proposal (TN/DS/W/92).    
AID FOR TRADE  
46. We emphasize the need to ensu re that the recommendations of the Aid for Trade Task 
Force, and those resulting from the proceedings of  the Regional Review M eeting on "Mobilising Aid 
for Trade:  Focus Africa", held in Dar Es Sala am, Tanzania, on 1 and 2 October 2007, and of the 
Mobilizing Aid for Trade:  A Global Review, or ganized in Geneva from 18 to 21 November 2007, 
and from the activities set out in the Aid for Trade Ro admap proposed by the Director-General of the 
WTO and approved by the WTO Membership on 25 February 2008, are implemented effectively, 
consistently and harmoniously.  
47. We call on all the bilateral and institutional de velopment partners to fulfil their pledges 
under the Aid for Trade initiative and to engage full y in country-led approaches for assisting African 
countries and LDCs, including acceding countries in maximising the benefits of trade. 
48. We strongly recommend that the regional dimens ion of projects and programmes initiated in 
Africa, in line with its developmental priorities, be taken into account, and that an appropriate and 
effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism be established. 
JOINT INTEGRATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME (JITAP)  
49. We take note of the positive results of JI TAP on the multilateral trading system, and the 
efforts underway by implementation agencies to mobilise new resources for a third phase of the 
programme. We confirm and reiterate our request to  extend and enlarge JITAP so that it may respond 
to the requests of eligible African countries to be nefit from the programme and to consolidate work 
already accomplished.  We recommend that we pres erve the momentum of the programme by using 
available resources and by calling on donors and part ners in African development to contribute to 
launching the third phase of JITAP, in a timely manner. 
50. We request the JITAP implementing agencies to pursue their actions so as to strengthen the 
institutional and human capacities for beneficiary countries a more effective participation in the 
multilateral trading system. 
ACCESSIONS 
51. We reaffirm our full solidarity with all A frican countries that are in the WTO accession 
process and urge all WTO members to facilitate  and accelerate the accession process for those 
countries. With reference to the guidelines on th e accession of LDCs adopted by the WTO members 
on December 10, 2002, we stress that the LDCs in th e process of accession should not be requested to 
negotiate concessions and commitments that go be yond those made by the LDCs members of the 
WTO. We also emphasize that African developing countries in the process of accession should not be 
compelled to make concessions in compatible with their level of development and that go beyond the 
commitments undertaken by developing country WTO members.  WT/L/720 
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  52. We also call on our development partners to intensify the provision of technical assistance 
and support for capacity building at all stages of the accession process to acceding African countries. 
PROCESS AND CONCLUSION 
53. We underline the full engagement of Africa, its unwavering political will, and its trade and 
economic interests to reach an early, positive a nd fair conclusion of Doha Round. This should 
preserve and achieve the basic objective of the R ound, which is to deliver tangible development 
objectives to allow African economi es to actively participate in the multilateral trading system, and 
share the benefits emanating from fair and balanced trade. 
54. We call for the negotiations to be carried out in a fully inclusive and transparent manner to 
ensure the political ownership of both the process a nd outcome, and to be guided by Chairpersons 
based on members` contributions to ensure the full legitimacy and balance of the outcome. 
55. We also stress that there should be full m odalities in Agriculture and NAMA, and that any 
cross-cutting negotiations should focus primar ily on these two areas and should be driven by 
substance and not subject to artificial deadlines.  The cross-cutting negotiations should be fairly 
representative, duly sanctioned by members at all stages,  and should include issues of vital interest to 
Africa if consensus were reached to expand the scope of the negotiations. 
56. We express appreciation to the development partners who continue  to support African 
countries in securing a fair, equitable and balanced multilateral trading system that takes fully into 
account the development objectives of the Doha Round. 
Done in Addis-Ababa, 3 April 2008 
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